The invention relates to metal oxide nanoscale materials and composite materials based on the metal oxide nanoscale materials.
Metal oxide whiskers are rod-shaped materials having diameters typically greater than or equal to 1 .mu.m are used extensively in composites due to their high strength and tolerance of high temperatures. Metal oxide whiskers in the same diameter range have been produced by a variety of procedures. Materials with nanometer diameters are useful in particular material applications, such as magnetic information storage and pinning structures in superconductors. Quantum phenomena are expected from materials in the nanometer size regime. Metal carbide nanomaterials, some being rod-shaped, with diameters between 2 and 100 nm have been reported.